Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) Shares Sold by Navellier & Associates Inc.

Navellier & Associates Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants, Inc. (NYSE:DRI) by 24.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,336 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock after selling 1,105 shares during the period. Navellier & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Darden Restaurants were worth $548,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DRI. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 134,319 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $22,451,000 after purchasing an additional 6,151 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Darden Restaurants by 16.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 42,281 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $6,398,000 after buying an additional 5,945 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Darden Restaurants by 4.6% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 103,144 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $17,248,000 after acquiring an additional 4,526 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 523.9% during the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 194,937 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock worth $31,995,000 after acquiring an additional 163,693 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC increased its stake in shares of Darden Restaurants by 96,162.9% in the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 8,861,000 shares of the restaurant operator’s stock valued at $1,454,356,000 after purchasing an additional 8,851,795 shares in the last quarter. 93.64% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Darden Restaurants

In other news, SVP Douglas J. Milanes sold 5,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $172.04, for a total transaction of $981,488.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 3,834 shares in the company, valued at $659,601.36. This represents a 59.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Susan M. Connelly sold 3,320 shares of Darden Restaurants stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $163.43, for a total transaction of $542,587.60. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 6,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,005,911.65. This trade represents a 35.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 59,265 shares of company stock valued at $10,116,030 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.58% of the company’s stock.

Darden Restaurants Stock Up 1.3 %

DRI stock opened at $164.78 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $19.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.31. Darden Restaurants, Inc. has a 12 month low of $135.87 and a 12 month high of $176.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $153.99.

Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 19th. The restaurant operator reported $1.75 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.83 by ($0.08). Darden Restaurants had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.80 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Darden Restaurants, Inc. will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Darden Restaurants Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $1.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This is a positive change from Darden Restaurants’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.29. This represents a $5.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. Darden Restaurants’s dividend payout ratio is 64.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DRI. Wedbush increased their price target on Darden Restaurants from $170.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $180.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Darden Restaurants from $192.00 to $191.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Darden Restaurants from $175.00 to $188.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $180.13.

Darden Restaurants Company Profile

Darden Restaurants, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates full-service restaurants in the United States and Canada. It operates under Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen, Yard House, The Capital Grille, Seasons 52, Bahama Breeze, Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, and Capital Burger brand names.